seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
2 Samuel 18:1 David mustered the men who were with him and appointed over them commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds. 2 David sent out his troops, a third under the command of Joab, a third under Joab’s brother Abishai son of Zeruiah, and a third under Ittai the Gittite. The king told the troops, “I myself will surely march out with you.”
3 But the men said, “You must not go out; if we are forced to flee, they won’t care about us. Even if half of us die, they won’t care; but you are worth ten thousand of us. It would be better now for you to give us support from the city.”
4 The king answered, “I will do whatever seems best to you.”
So the king stood beside the gate while all his men marched out in units of hundreds and of thousands. 5 The king commanded Joab, Abishai and Ittai, “Be gentle with the young man Absalom for my sake.” And all the troops heard the king giving orders concerning Absalom to each of the commanders.
6 David’s army marched out of the city to fight Israel, and the battle took place in the forest of Ephraim. 7 There Israel’s troops were routed by David’s men, and the casualties that day were great—twenty thousand men. 8 The battle spread out over the whole countryside, and the forest swallowed up more men that day than the sword.
9 Now Absalom happened to meet David’s men. He was riding his mule, and as the mule went under the thick branches of a large oak, Absalom’s hair got caught in the tree. He was left hanging in midair, while the mule he was riding kept on going.
10 When one of the men saw what had happened, he told Joab, “I just saw Absalom hanging in an oak tree.”
11 Joab said to the man who had told him this, “What! You saw him? Why didn’t you strike him to the ground right there? Then I would have had to give you ten shekels of silver and a warrior’s belt.”
12 But the man replied, “Even if a thousand shekels were weighed out into my hands, I would not lay a hand on the king’s son. In our hearing the king commanded you and Abishai and Ittai, ‘Protect the young man Absalom for my sake.’ 13 And if I had put my life in jeopardy—and nothing is hidden from the king—you would have kept your distance from me.”
14 Joab said, “I’m not going to wait like this for you.” So he took three javelins in his hand and plunged them into Absalom’s heart while Absalom was still alive in the oak tree. 15 And ten of Joab’s armor-bearers surrounded Absalom, struck him and killed him.
16 Then Joab sounded the trumpet, and the troops stopped pursuing Israel, for Joab halted them. 17 They took Absalom, threw him into a big pit in the forest and piled up a large heap of rocks over him. Meanwhile, all the Israelites fled to their homes.
18 During his lifetime Absalom had taken a pillar and erected it in the King’s Valley as a monument to himself, for he thought, “I have no son to carry on the memory of my name.” He named the pillar after himself, and it is called Absalom’s Monument to this day.
Here's the link to the commentary I used.Ok... to make things much quicker.... Absalom got stuck in an oak tree. When we first met Absalom, the author remarked about just how handsome he was and how he had great locks of gorgeous hair. Well... that gorgeous hair got stuck in an oak tree bough as his mule was taking him along.
The woods devoured more people that day than the sword devoured: This phrase implies that God fought for David in unusual ways. Soldiers loyal to Absalom seemed to be “swallowed up” by the woods.
I guess the woods swallowed Absalom a bit as well.He took three spears in his hand and thrust them through Absalom’s heart: Joab didn’t hesitate to strike Absalom, though he knew David commanded him not to. Joab was convinced that it was in David’s best interest and in Israel’s best interest to show Absalom justice, not mercy.
It was Joab, David's commander, who killed Absalom, David's son. Joab considered Absalom to be a murderer, a traitor, and a rapist. I guess three spears or daggers in the heart would make the point.
Absalom wanted his dad's throne. Absalom wanted justice for his sister Tamar. Absalom was a beautiful man, easy to look at and apparently nice to hear as well.
Absalom raped 10 of his dad's whores. In return for the rape... as this turns out... it was 10 of his own armor bearers [young men] who finally beat the fire out of him as he hung from the oak tree, unable to defend himself. Absalom died at the hand of Joab and 10 young men... does that make everything just for the raped girls? I doubt it... but at least it's some kind of closure.
I left out the last part of chapter 17. It described how David and his troops were supplied by those loyal to David amongst the Israelites. I can't leave out the last part of this chapter tomorrow. David has got to find out about Absalom's death.
According to the commentary. David had 19 sons. He had 8 wives and a few [unnumbered] concubines. He didn't count his daughters, other than Tamar, who wouldn't have been counted if she hadn't been raped. Now three of them have died. His son with Bathsheba only lived a few days. Amnon was murdered by Absalom for the rape of Tamar. Now, Absalom has been put to death, while hanging by his gorgeous hair in an oak tree, by Joab, David's Commander of the army and ten young men.
Absalom was hung by that gorgeous hair until dead....
Hung by that gorgeous hair until dead...
